7th Pay Commission: Latest updates on minimum pay, is government interested?

The National Joint Council of Action (NJAC) in its note had requested the ministry to hike the minimum pay in the pay structure of a central government employee.

The minimum pay under the 7th Pay Commission was a much discussed subject. Central Government employees have been looking for latest updates on the minimum pay.

There has been a demand to increase the minimum pay. The government is speaking about it, but does not seem to be interested in hiking the same.

Will government hike minimum pay?

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asked some officials whether the minimum pay had improved. However officials pointed towards a note sent out by the employees' union which sought for an increase in the minimum pay. The Finance Minister had made it clear that the final recommendations would not be tinkered with which has led central government employees to wonder why the minister was asking about it then. Some officials have expressed concern that the ministry does not show any interest in the hike in minimum pay.

NJAC note on minimum pay

The National Joint Council of Action (NJAC) in its note had requested the ministry to hike the minimum pay in the pay structure of a central government employee. The cabinet had recently cleared the pay panel's recommendations which had fixed the minimum basic pay at Rs 18,000 with a maximum pay of Rs 2.50 lakh per month. The NJAC has however demanded for a hike in in minimum pay Rs 18,000 to Rs 26,000, which is now under consideration by the National Anomaly Committee.

Finance Ministry's response

In its reply, the ministry said that it was under the impression that under the pay panel's recommendation the minimum pay did not change the pay structure. In a note to the National Anomaly Committee, the ministry has written, " please discuss."

7th Pay Commission lowered pay gap

The NJAC has told the ministry that the 7th Pay Commission made the pay gap of lower paid employees and top bureaucrats higher about to 1:14 ratio from 1:12 in the previous pay structure. In last year, when the new pay scale was given nod by the cabinet, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had assured unions leaders of central government employees in the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's house that the pay gap should be minimized.

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